In the initial Champions League Group H stage match,
a clash between European titans came head to head as legendary AC Milan met the
perfection of FC Barcelona on their home pitch, Camp Nou. What was anticipated to
be another high speed ballet of execution by Barcelona after leading the match
2-1 up to the 90 minute of play, it became evident that perhaps the
blaugranas’ (blue & red) side was lacking in defense after a late header by
Thiago Silva in the 92’ minute gave Milan a draw almost as sweet as a victory. Later
on, Barcelona also conceded another 2 points in La Liga’s competition after a
2-2 draw against the Real Sociedad. Many thought that Guardiola’s last defending line was hampered
in the short term because of injured captain Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique.
However, recently a new report from the team’s website shows otherwise proving
that the defense of, invariably the best team in the world, is as flawless as their
ability to generate offense. Since the game against Real Sociedad, Barça’s
keeper, Victor Valdes, has kept three consecutive clean sheets against Sporting
(Liga), BATE (Champions), and Atletico Madrid (Liga) while compiling 11 goals
in favor.
More reassuring, however, is Barcelona’s statistical
record from the past three seasons.
In its first season since Guardiola took over the club, Barça let 35 goals
in their net, in the second only 24, and last season 21. There is every reason to believe that
there will continue to be improvement in coming seasons. After playing three games this season
with a 3-4-3 line up due to injuries in the back line, Guardiola has emphasized
the fact that everyone is in charge of defending and that the defense starts in
the opponent’s half pitch. So if the ball is lost, there are men immediately
available to recover the ball and build up another attack right away.
Edited by: Matthew Tobin
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